“On May 2nd, 2013, we filed paperwork with the Secretary of the Senate expressing an intent to run for US Senate in 2014,” Miller said. “The complexities of the law require filing after expenditures exceed $5,000, or when certain fund-raising or campaign activities are commenced. Support from the grassroots has been overwhelmingly positive, and we are moving forward within those guidelines organizing, fund-raising and coordinating with our volunteer base.”

Miller, of Fairbanks, won the Senate primary in 2010 but lost to a write-in campaign by U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski during a three-way race for that seat. He announced last month that he had launched an exploratory committee.

The form filed by Miller early this month indicates some level of fundraising has begun. The candidate designated Citizens for Joe Miller, with Treasurer Bernadette Koppy, as his campaign committee.

News reports on the filing, including an article in politico.com seeming to state that Miller is running, set some political sites abuzz. Miller’s own site, joemiller.us, Tuesday afternoon contained a column penned last month discussing a possible run.

“The choice before Alaskans in 2014 will be stark,” Miller wrote. “Voters must choose between the easy lies of an insider politician and the hard truth of a reformer. As of the writing of this article, I am unaware of another potential candidate who has demonstrated a willingness to challenge the status quo, and confront the culture of corruption that reaches to the highest levels of American government.

A call to Miller’s office at Restoring Liberty was not immediately answered.

Miller was recently ordered to pay court fees to the online publication Alaska Dispatch over a public records lawsuit, fees exceeding $80,000.

If a recent poll is to be believed, Miller could face an uphill battle simply in the primary.

A poll of 379 people conducted for a group trying to draft former Gov. Sarah Palin into the senate race, taken between May 6 and May 7 (found at harperpolling.com), matched up Miller against Palin and potential candidate and current Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell.

“Former Governor Sarah Palin leads a Republican primary ballot with the three most likely candidates: Palin, Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell and 2010 GOP Senate nominee Joe Miller,” the pollsters concluded. “Palin leads slightly among both men and women at +1 percent and +4 percent respectively. Among voters who describe themselves as “very conservative”, Palin’s lead grows to 20 percent over Treadwell (43-23 percent).”

The same poll handed Palin a commanding lead should Treadwell not run.